I am just starting a new rat rod. I am new into rat rodding so some advice would definately be great. I want to suicide the front axle, Z the backhalf, and of course put some better breaks. I am on a tight budget. I barely talked the wife into this. I just bought a 30 model a pickup frame, bed, hood, grill, and, cowl. I am gonna use a 283 that I have sitting around and also a three speed manual. Any advice on upgrading the brakes. Also I want to put a 4 link rear end. I have a ford 9" which I hoping is the right width.

Welcome to HR.Com. You have come to the right place to find virtually any answer you need for building up your '30. At this early stage my advice would be to spend lots of time exploring the Knowledge Base, the Project Journals and using the "Search" function here on the technical forums (there are many many discussions regarding brakes). Then, as specific questions come up which have not already been answered or shown, fire away in the appropriate forum and I'm sure you will get plenty of help.

As far as specific advice on your new project, it's may not be glamorous - but you'll probably want to start by boxing your frame. Even though the 283 isn't going to put out numbers like a blown big block, you want to make sure that tired old frame hangs together for you and stays straight.

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